Vengeance (2004)
Vengeance (2004) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by American promotion, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on July 11, 2004, from the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut. It was the fourth annual Vengeance chronology featured talent from the Raw brand. The main event was Chris Benoit versus Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Benoit won by pinning Triple H with a roll-up. The predominant match on the card was Randy Orton versus Edge for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, which Edge won by pinfall after executing a Spear. The primary matches on the undercard included Matt Hardy versus Kane in a No Disqualification match, which Hardy won after he hit Kane with a steel chair to get the pin, and Batista versus Chris Jericho, which Batista won by pinfall after executing a Batista Bomb. The event grossed US$370,000 with 7,000 ticket sales and had a 0.43 buy rate. Following the event, Benoit began a feud with Randy Orton over the World Heavyweight Championship. The two would have a match at SummerSlam, where Orton would win the World Heavyweight Championship, and become the youngest world champion in WWE history. Edge went on to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Batista and Chris Jericho in a Triple Threat match at SummerSlam. Kane and Matt Hardy continued their feud at SummerSlam in a "Till Death Do Us Part" match, where the winner would get to marry Lita. Kane was the victor, and as a result, Lita had to marry Kane. Storylines The main feud heading into Vengeance was between Chris Benoit and Triple H, with the two battling over the World Heavyweight Championship. In January at the Royal Rumble, Benoit won the Royal Rumble match which earned him a World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H at WrestleMania. At WrestleMania, Benoit defeated champion Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a Triple Threat match to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Benoit won the match by forcing Triple H to submit to the Crippler Crossface. At Backlash, Benoit successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship in another Triple Threat match against Triple H and Shawn Michaels, after he forced Michaels to submit to the Sharpshooter. Following Backlash, Benoit had a small feud with Kane, while Michaels and Triple H would finish their feud at Bad Blood. After Bad Blood, Triple H would demand another World Heavyweight Title shot. It would later be granted to him by General Manager Eric Bischoff to fight against Benoit at Vengeance for the championship, but Bischoff asked for Triple H to defeat his nephew, Eugene. Triple H tried to befriend Eugene, who was a fan of him. At the edition of June 21, 2004 of Raw, Triple H tried to hit Eugene with a chair, per Bischoff's orders, only for Chris Benoit to run in for the save. Benoit, however, accidentally hit Eugene with the chair, making Triple H hit him with a Pedigree. The next week, Triple H offered Eugene to be an honorary member of Evolution, making William Regal confront Triple H. Later on, Triple H defeated Regal by DQ as Eugene was the referee, making Eugene attack Regal. The next week, Benoit teamed up with Edge and fought against Ric Flair, Eugene and Triple H. Triple H won after Eugene hit Benoit with a chair. Another primary feud heading into the event was between Edge and Randy Orton over the WWE Intercontinental Championship. After Edge came back from his injury, he vowed to take Evolution out. He started it by facing them, together with Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, in a six men tag team eliminations match at June 14. The next week, Edge speared Orton, but then lost to him in a tag team match later on. The week after that, Edge and Chris Jericho defeated Batista and Randy Orton in a tag team match. On the edition of July 5, 2004 of Raw, Edge confronted Evolution, attacking them. One of the main matches on the undercard was a No Disqualification match between Matt Hardy and Kane. On the edition of May 17, 2004 of Raw, Kane attacked Matt Hardy, and Lita promised him something for him to stop. On the June 21, 2004 episode of Raw, as Matt Hardy proposed to Lita, Kane revealed that Lita was pregnant with his child, and not with Matt's child, as she slept with Kane in order to protect Matt. The next week, Matt Hardy attacked Kane. Hardy was banned from ringside for the main event, which featured Kane against World Champion Chris Benoit. Kane lost, and then Lita attacked Kane in order to make him chokeslam her and losing the child. Kane, however, refused to do so. The next week, Hardy attacked Kane again, and then was booked in a No DQ match against him that Sunday. Another one of the main matches on the undercard was a singles match between Chris Jericho and Batista. The feud started on the edition of June 14, 2004 of Raw where Jericho eliminated Batista from a six men tag team eliminations match. The next week, during a tag team match, Batista knocked Jericho out. The week after that, Jericho pinned Batista in a tag match. The week before the event, Batista cost Jericho a match for the IC title against Orton. Aftermath The next night on Raw, Eugene apologized to Evolution (Batista, Ric Flair, Randy Orton and Triple H), and Triple H told Eugene to go see Eric Bischoff. Bischoff booked a match between Chris Benoit and Eugene later that night for the World Heavyweight Championship. At the end of the match, Evolution then come out and attacked Eugene and Benoit. William Regal attempted to help Eugene, but was stopped by Evolution. The feud between Triple H and Eugene lasted until SummerSlam, where they had a match, which Triple H won by pinfall. On the July 26 episode of Raw, 20 men competed in an over the top rope Battle Royal to determine the number one contender-ship for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam. Randy Orton won the match by last eliminating Chris Jericho. At SummerSlam, Orton faced Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Orton won by pinfall after performing an RKO. On the August 16 episode of Raw, Orton defeated Chris Benoit in a rematch to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Batista, Ric Flair, and Triple H, threw Orton a mock celebration, only to turn on him. Flair and Batista attacked Orton as Triple H told him that he was nothing without Evolution. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Triple H told Orton to give him the title or pay the price. Orton refused, spat in Triple H's face and hit him with the title belt. General Manager Eric Bischoff scheduled a match between Orton and Triple H for the title at Unforgiven. At Unforgiven, Orton lost the title when he was pinned by Triple H. Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Vengeance Category:Vengeance Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2004 Pay-Per-View Events